The Coalition for Civil Liberties (CCL), a group that opposes most restrictions on gun ownership, is trying to appeal to the LGBT community with a video that shows a transgender person shooting someone who is stalking her.
CCL is a project of the California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA), which has tried to organize opposition to Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsome’s “Safety for All Act of 2016.” That initiative, which was approved for the Nov. 8 ballot, would require instant background checks for purchases of ammunition, strengthen background checks for gun purchases, prohibit possession of large detachable military-style ammunition magazines and require the immediate surrender of firearms by people convicted of serious and violent crimes. CCL claims it has the support of groups such as Jews Can Shoot, Women Against Gun Control and Pink Pistols, an LGBT gun advocacy group, in opposing Newsome’s measure. Pink Pistols members include Ben Coleman, who was named an at-large member of the City of West Hollywood’s Public Safety Commission in a three-two vote with the support of Mayor Lauren Meister and council members John D’Amico and John Duran.
Earlier this month, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that would implement some of the measures in Newsome’s initiative such as background checks on people buying ammunition and new licenses for those who sell ammunition. But Newsome’s initiative also requires that gun dealers and their employees undergo background checks and that gun owners convicted of a felony give up their weapons.
The CLC video shows what appears to be a transgender woman walking to her car in an underground parking garage. A man suddenly appears behind her and reaches to attack her. The woman pulls out a pistol and attempts to shoots him, but there are no bullets in her gun. The video ends with the slogan: “Take away our rights, take away our lives.”
The CCL campaign comes at a time when other LGBT campaigns in support of stronger gun regulation have been organized in response to the mass murder of 49 LGBT people by a single gunman last month at Pulse, the gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. The best known of those groups is Gays Against Guns, organized in New York City last month. GAG assembled 750 people to march in New York’s annual Pride March. LGBT people in cities such as Chicago, San Diego and Washington, D.C., are working to organize chapters.
This is disgusting and those behind it should be ashamed. Anyone with half a brain and does a google search will realize that there are numerous studies showing that gun ownership neither reduces crime or increases safety. In fact, the evidence overwhelming shows the opposite. This report from Harvard’s School of Public Health’s Injury Control Research Center is just one of the many that debunks the claims of the gun lobby that gun ownership/use leads to better self-defense outcomes or safety: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/firearms-research/gun-threats-and-self-defense-gun-use-2/
Right wing propaganda at it’s most dangerous. Preying on the fears of the most vulnerable should be illegal. Unethical is the least I can say about this. Absolute fear mongering.
It seems like a faux gay group. They are waisting thier time. Likely right wingers. Interesting they are trying multiple ways to infiltrate. Thanks for sharing.
This allegedly gay pro-gun propaganda plays on fear, which has never motivated our movement of peaceful civil rights for all. Are the instigators of this campaign even really LGBTQ? Or are they pandering, with no knowledge or respect for the history of our nonviolent struggle?